In general, a semiconductor device may include semiconductor resistor elements together with transistors to input and output data at a given time. A semiconductor resistor element may be made using a diffusion region formed by implanting impurity ions into a semiconductor substrate and/or using a resistance pattern formed of a semiconductor material on the semiconductor substrate. Here, the semiconductor resistor element may maintain an appropriate resistance value to process data at a given time and contribute to a resistance-capacitance delay time of circuit interconnections.
As dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, the semiconductor resistor element may be formed in a resistance pattern occupying a relatively small area on and/or in the semiconductor substrate. Further, a semiconductor resistor element may be deformed due to optical interference when performing a photolithography process as a result of reduction of semiconductor device dimensions. A resistance of the semiconductor resistor element may be reduced, thereby changing circuit timing and reducing performance.
A semiconductor resistor element used to compensate for optical interference when performing a photolithography process with reduced semiconductor device dimensions is discussed, for example, in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004-0196138 by Kong Beng Thei et al. As discussed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004-0196138, resistor element and dummy resistor elements may be disposed on a substrate. The dummy resistor elements may be formed parallel to the resistor element, without contacting the resistor element. Thus, the dummy resistor elements may compensate for optical interference affecting formation of the resistor element during photolithography operations.
However, it may be difficult to provide a resistor element having a resistance less than or equal to a resistance provided before the reduction of dimensions of the semiconductor device, because the resistor element is disposed on the substrate electrically separated from the dummy resistor elements. Use of the dummy resistor elements may not provide sufficient flexibility in a semiconductor fabrication process which allows the resistance to be less than or equal to a resistance before reduction of dimensions of the semiconductor device. Therefore, the resistor element may have a larger resistance value than before reduction of dimensions, and thus may be unable to process data at the given time.